Help us make a difference |Thursday 24th May 2018

Celebrating the power of poetry and the positive impact of creative engagement with those affected by memory loss

"Wordsworth famously described poetry as ‘emotion recollected in tranquility’. The three big words have equal weight here, but ‘recollection’ has a particular significance: it makes clear that writing is essentially a re-claiming and in the process a re-making. Memory Cafés, where memories can be stored and examined and preserved, have the potential to be very important centres of poetic business. It’s this combination of the literary and the living that makes National Memory Day so important and original."

Sir Andrew Motion reads ‘A Late Portrait of Sheila Smith’ for National Memory Day

“There are 800,000 people currently living with dementia in the UK, and it has been proven in the past that the arts can have a positive impact on their experiences. National Memory Day has the potential to expand on that previous work, and reach more people with the condition, their families and carers."

"Research is beginning to show how the metre and rhythm of poetry can help calm and relax listeners who live with various forms of memory loss. I’ve seen at first-hand how the practice of reciting and creating poems can help to unlock older memories which encourage new conversations and new, positive memories for people living with memory loss to share with their families, friends and those who care for them."

Sir Andrew Motion, President of National Memory Day

“I’m delighted that Literature Works and the National Memory Day partners are harnessing the power and joy of poetry this Dementia Action Week and National Memory Day. One person develops dementia every three minutes in the UK and people with dementia have the right to be accepted and included in their communities and not live in isolation or loneliness. Examples like this add to great work that is already happening to make this a reality.”

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Society

"We often think about when Dad wasn't so bad, when he understood family jokes. Moments like these are really precious and if poetry can spark memories of them, it's amazing."

Andrew Gould, Director of PR Works and supporter of National Memory Day

"I believe that poetry is the natural language of memory loss."

Karen Hayes, Poet and Poetry Workshop leader for the National Memory Day Memory Cafe project

“The creation of new poetry and writing, inspired by and with the active participation of individuals at Memory Cafés, will provide fantastically positive new approaches to living with memory loss, and the resulting collections and archiving of people’s memories in such creative forms will provide support to the participating families for years to come.”

Angela Rippon, an Ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society and Vice President of National Memory Day